WEBVTT
>> USED CRAIGSLIST TO SOLICIT A
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.
AUTHORITIES SAY IN JUNE, A
FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY AGENT
POSING AS THE MOTHER OF A
TEENAGE GIR REPLIED TO THIS MAN
SEEKING A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
FOR A SEXUAL ENCOUNTER.
>> AND THE PERSON HE WAS
SPEAKING TO, HE ASKED IF HIS OR
HER DAUGHTER WAS A VIRGIN.
>> BASE OF THE ENCOUNTER WOULD
COST 300 DOLLARS BUT ACCORDING
TO RECORDS, THE ONLINE
CONVERSATION BEGAN TO BREAK DOWN
WHEN THE AGENT REFUSED TO SEND
PICTURES OF THE TEENAGER.
>> HE ABSOLUTELY KNEW WHAT HE
WAS DOING IN NEW WHAT WAS GOING
ON.
>> IT WAS PART OF HIS BAIL TEAM.
AND HE WILL PLEAD NOT GUILTY.
>> HE APPRECIATES THE
SERIOUSNESS OF THESE CHARGES.
THEY ARE JUST CHARGES AND
NOTHING HAS BEEN PROVEN YET.
>> AUTHORITIES SAY THEY ARE
PLEASED WITH THE OUTCOME.

A Weare man who coached a girls softball team is accused of using Craigslist to solicit sex from people whom he thought were a mother and her underage daughter.

Prosecutors said Donald Malette, 38, was communicating online with an undercover federal agent.

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Malette was arraigned Wednesday on felony charges of certain uses of a computer prohibited and falsifying physical evidence. Prosecutors said Malette tried to destroy emails when he learned of the investigation.

"We find everything about this case is disturbing, especially anything to do with minors," Weare police Sgt. Brandon Montplaisir said.

With his brother sitting in the courtroom, Malette was accused of trying to lure an underage girl and her mother to have sex. The investigation began in June, when an agent with the Department of Homeland Security checked Craigslist for sexual solicitation of minors.

"There was a posting that was tied to Mr. Malette," prosecutor Alexander Gatzoulis said.

Prosecutors said an undercover agent wrote back to his post, posing as a woman with a 14-year-old daughter.

The emails continued for some time, and prosecutors said Malette did his best to establish that the person with whom he was communicating was legitimate.

"He wanted to see real photos of the person to whom he was speaking to, as well as real photos of the daughter," Gatzoulis said.

Malette was arrested when prosecutors learned that he was moving to South Carolina.

Defense attorney Henry Klementowicz said in court that Malette is not a flight risk. He also took exception to one point made by the prosecutor.

"I haven’t received discovery … but nothing I heard in the offer of proof suggested that the lives of minors were at risk," Klementowicz said.

Although federal agents began the investigation, the case was turned over to local police.

"Based on their investigation, they determined that federal charges would not be warranted because he did not travel to meet any juveniles," Malette said.

The judge set bail at $50,000 cash and ordered that Malette have no unsupervised contact with minors, including his own children. He is scheduled to be back in court Oct. 27 for a probable cause hearing.